IT STARTED FROM A FRIEND REQUEST PART 11

The story begins with….
Raman and ishita in the car.
‘Sir, have you made all the arrangements?’raman asked on the phone when he called the manager of Fame Cinemas at Raghuleela Mall. The manager assured that everything was ready.
‘Which arrangements?’ ishita asked curiously.
‘Nothing. Some work related to office. We have an important meeting tomorrow,’ he lied. He wanted to surprise ishita with his plans.
Raman glanced at ishita carefully. Every time he looked at her, he felt like he was falling in love all over again. This was the best phase of his life and if he had not gon to the club, he would have never met her. It was on that very day that he fell in love with her. From that day onwards, Raman was a changed man. He never knew he would live to see a better tomorrow. But the day ishita came into his life, all his sorrows disappeared. It made him feel like his days of emptiness were over, like she had filled a void in his heart. His days of sadness were a thing of the past now, as he had found his true love at last. She had opened a new window and showed him love like he never knew existed. Raman believed that their love would continue to burn bright.
He thought of holding her hands while driving but dropped the plan and decided to wait for the right moment. They reached Raghuleela Mall. Ishita still didn’t know what Raman had planned for her. She knew that Raman had decided to take her for a movie but she still couldn’t understand why he had planned to take her to a venue so far when there were better options in South Mumbai. She asked him again.

‘Have patience, dear. I want to make this the best day of your life. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Hope you like the surprise,’ Raman replied while taking on the escalator.
‘Surprise? What kind of surprise? You said we were going for a movie. What can be surprising in a movie?’she asked. Her questions were never-ending.
‘Ssssshhh,’ Raman said and kept his finger on her lips to put a full stop to her questions. Her lips were soft, like honey dew. He was so lost in her eyes that he kept staring at her with love without removing his finger from her lips. Finally realizing he had been staring at her for way too long, he quickly looked away. When he saw ishita taking her eyes away from him, he kissed the same finger with which he had touched her lips. He felt like he was kissing her for the first time and the divine feeling of their ‘first kiss’ made him go crazy. He wanted to hold her by her waist and dance. He wanted to keep his hand on her lap in the darkness of the cinema hall. But he knew he had to wait a little more.
‘ Raman now can you tell me? The movie is about to begin. Don’t test my patience,please,’ ishita said trying to convince Raman to reveal the surprise he had planned.
‘Just enjoy the movie, ishita. Don’t think about it so much,’ Raman replied.
After an hour into the movie, Raman excused himself and went out of the hall to give a final touch to his plan.
‘I will be back. I need to use the washroom,’ he said to ishita and slyly moved out.
Raman went outside, had a talk with the manager for the final time, and confirmed whether he had received the payment. The manager nodded and said everything was ready and that he needn’t worry about anything. Raman watched the clock and asked him the time left before the interval.
‘Fifteen minutes more, sir,’ the manager answered.
He went inside and sat quietly on his seat. He glanced at ishita who looked back at him and gave a smile. She seemed curious to know the surprise. She had somehow realized what was coming ahead, but wanted the event to unfold on its own. She was equally nervous since she was expecting something special. Their eyes were glued to each other and they spoke a thousand words without actually saying anything. Raman understood her expectations and even ishita understood that Raman was really going to make it special. For the next few minutes, they kept looking at each other, forgetting all about the movie. Slowly and steadily, they were coming close to each other, with neither of them realizing it. Their foreheads almost touched each other but they still didn’t speak a word. Raman lifted his hand to touch her cheeks. His heart breathed heavily and he could sense the same feelings in ishita’s eyes. Their face tilted and they almost kissed each other. Their lips were inches away. His palm was about to touch her cheeks when the lights came on.

Interval

Immediately they moved back to their original position and acted as if nothing had happened. Ishita started curling a strand of her hair with her fingers while Raman stretched his body pretending to relax. They looked at each other and exchanged innocent smiles.
‘Don’t move. I’ll be back in a few minutes with your surprise,’ Raman said getting up from his seat.
‘What’s it, Raman? Come on. Tell me. Where are you going?’ ishita almost pleaded this time. She was losing all her patience. Raman blinked his eyes and asked her to wait for a moment.
Ishita took out the Bisleri water bottle from her bag. Just as she was about to take asip, she saw her name flash on the movie screen. She could not believe her eyes.
Is that real? I mean how? Why? What’s next? Is this the surprise Raman was talking about? Did he go outside for this? Her mind was preoccupied with these thoughts while her eyes looked for Raman. He couldn’t be seen anywhere. She looked back at the screen and didn’t dare to look anywhere else. She felt like her heart had stopped beating.
Ishita! Ishita! Ishita! The text appeared on the screen.
I don’t know what will be your reaction after watching this short movie. But I am sure you won’t hit me. The text flashed on the screen one after the other.
I’ve always been someone who is always at a loss for words. But, today I felt like telling you everything to lighten my heart. It’s for the very first time in my life that I am taking this step and have dared to do something like this. I would like to tell you that you have wooed me from the very first meeting. I want to let you know that I am madly in love with you and I promise you that I will do my best in making you feel loved and secure with me. I don’t know what you think of me, but you really are very special for me. According to me, you are the most beautiful girl in this world. Megan fox is no match for you. The stars lose their shine when I think about your smile.I’ve seen dreams of me kissing you and have spent lonely nights thinking of you. If only you could hear my heart’s voice, you would have known that I will love you like no one else. The days have passed since I feel your love in every song. Now it’s time to say what I have kept hidden for so long. I want you to stay by my side. Ishita, I love you! I love you so much that I cannot express it enough. I have a small surprise to let you know that you are my life. I have never felt so good.

A photograph of Raman and ishita appeared on the screen with ‘Made for each other and together forever’ written on it.
Raman was standing near the entrance door and observing ishita all through the clip. Her happiness knew no bounds. She came down immediately when she saw Raman standing near the screen. She stood in front of him. They looked at each other for a moment. Raman was the first one to break the silence.
‘You won’t say anything?’
‘I am speechless, Raman. When did you plan all of this? I never expected that someone would ever do this to me. I am flattered. I still can’t believe you actually did this. You had kept our photograph too, the one which we had taken in McDonald’s,’ she said, and Raman came close and held her hands.
‘I wanted to tell you about my feelings in person, but thought of making it special and memorable. I always feared telling you about it because I feared losing you as a friend. I consider myself really lucky to have a friend like you. But now I want to tell you the truth. Each moment away from you feels like a thousand deaths. I would rather lose you and live in sorrow than spend the rest of my life wondering what if…’ Raman stopped for a moment and said, ‘I hope you will not hate me. But what choice did I have? You are the most wonderful girl I have ever met and not falling in love with you was never an option for me. I love you, ishita.’
He had finally expressed his love and he felt on top of the world. Ishita keptsmiling and looking at him with intensity. Without further delay, she hugged him tightly.
The moment they hugged, everyone in the hall applauded. It was then that they realized they were in a movie hall. The last few minutes had taken them into a world which many only dream of. They didn’t wait for the interval to get over. They left the movie hall to spend some time together before the day came to an end. Raman again thanked the manager for executing his plan to perfection.